Thomas Tumler turned 35 on November 5, and just over a month later he claimed his first World Cup victory. The man from Graubünden wins the giant slalom in Beaver Creek.
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- After a dream run in the first run, Thomas Tumler saves twelve hundredths of his lead to the finish and wins the giant slalom in Beaver Creek.
- While Tumler celebrates his first World Cup victory at the age of 35, Marco Odermatt has to accept his third consecutive retirement in his showpiece discipline.
- Lucas Pinheiro Braathen finishes second on the podium for the first time since his comeback.
Tumler took a 1.07 second lead over Lucas Pinheiro Braathen before his second run. He had pulled out this lead with a sensational run in the first run, when he left all his rivals behind by at least a second with the exception of Zan Kranjec. However, because Pinheiro Braathen also managed a magical run in the fourth race after his comeback, von Tumler's lead melted away more and more. In the end, the Swiss skier saved twelve hundredths of a second, where he celebrated exuberantly.
Beaver Creek as a place of success
The place of success has a special meaning for Tumler. Six years ago, he celebrated his first podium finish in the World Cup out of nowhere in Beaver Creek. Starting with bib number 48, he qualified in 21st place for the second run, in which he made up another 18 places with the best time. His third place ended an almost eight-year drought of podium finishes for the Swiss giant slalom team and healed "many wounds" for Tumler after years of disappointment, as he explained at the time.
The following winter, Tumler finished 2nd in the parallel giant slalom in Chamonix before suffering another setback due to injury. Despite his advanced age as an athlete, he fought his way back and finished last season better than ever before. Thanks to five top 10 places, including his third World Cup podium with third place in Saalbach, he finished seventh overall in the giant slalom.
Having finally arrived at the top of the world, Tumler had his sights set on the podium again after the first run at the season opener in Sölden, but fell back from 4th to 14th place in the second run. In Beaver Creek, he withstood the immense pressure and defended his top position.
Odermatt with third retirement in a row
The Swiss team can therefore look back on a perfect haul from the three days of racing in the US state of Colorado. Before Tumler, Marco Odermatt had triumphed in the super-G on Saturday and Justin Murisier in the downhill on Friday.
Odermatt, who finished second behind Murisier in the downhill and was aiming for a podium hat-trick, was disappointed. The eighth-placed racer in the first run missed a gate after just over seven seconds in the second run and was eliminated for the third time in a row in this discipline. This came after he had previously celebrated twelve consecutive victories in the giant slalom. Murisier also ran out of steam in his third race in three days. In 32nd place, he failed to qualify for the second run.
Loïc Meillard, fifth after the first run, lost a pole in the second run after a mistake and lost a lot of time as a result. He finished 13th, Gino Caviezel and Fadri Janutin came 13th and 21st.
Pinheiro Braathen with first podium after comeback
Behind Tumler, Pinheiro Braathen also experienced a little fairytale. The 24-year-old had retired in the spring of 2023, but after a one-season break is now competing again under a new flag - Brazil instead of Norway - and is immediately back at the front. After finishing fourth in Sölden (giant slalom) and Levi (slalom), he claimed the first World Cup podium for Brazil in Beaver Creek. He pushed the Slovenian Zan Kranjec into third place.
Pinheiro Braathen last stood on the podium in the giant slalom a good two years ago, when he won in Alta Badia. He almost wrote the big story of the race in Beaver Creek - if it hadn't been for Thomas Tumler.
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